Before I start, let me give this post some context. I work in the financial industry in a client facing role. I’m a single parent managing my 8-year old kid. I can say I have lot of work tasks that are on going, things to follow-up on and bigger projects I work on. Then I have meal planning, school events, groceries, doctor’s visits and a few social engagements. So my days are fairly busy and can be without structure.

I’ve tried so many systems, read numerous blogs and just tried to fit my life into one methodology or the other. Some have worked, some have failed but I’ve learned things along the way. What’s been working well for the most part of the year is keeping things simple. I’m not following any one methodology and have just picked up tips which I implement.

Too much structure doesn’t work for me. So something like Planner Pad (which is a great product), just seems like too much work for me. I feel like filling all the slots is a chore and it bugs me.

Lists are great. I keep adding to my work list throughout the week. Cross out as many as I can and move the rest to the next week. Things spill over, it’s a fact of life that I’ve come to accept. I’ll put down menial stuff and big stuff. Project stuff and daily tasks. Every day I’ll run through my list once or twice and knock off items.

I have one calendar. Ok, not exactly one. I have a monthly spread and a weekly spread. Monthly is more for big events and being able to see the month at once. Weekly is more about scheduled stuff, like school events, client meetings, deadlines, etc. This is in my Personal Filofax and I always carry this with me…. almost everywhere.

If I have MITs (Most Important Tasks) for a certain day for work, I put it on my calendar. Meal planning will also go on one corner of the calendar.

Finally, I have a personal master list/ brain dump for personal things I need to get done, groceries, things I need to buy, wish lists, things I want to read etc.

So, that’s it. Two lists and a calendar.

Advertisement